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Dinner tonight was probably my most-anticipated meal of this trip. I very much appreciate the casul aspect of Chaoshan cuisine, and I'm well aware of the traditional way of dining that we had at lunch today. But ever since I experienced high-end Chiuchow cuisine in Shenzhen back in 2023, I've been very curious about exactly how fine the top chefs in this area could take it. While spending minimal time doing on homework on where to eat in this town, we quickly came upon
Taste of Chaoshan - Zhuhai Restaurant (潮汕味道•煮海餐厅) as THE fine dining establishment. As one of only two restaurants in the city to receive the diamonds from the Black Pearl Dining Guide, and the only one to receive two diamonds, this would seem to be the pinnacle of Chaoshan cuisine in town.
I traveled eastward for the fourth time today, this time to the banks of the Han River (韓江). The restaurant takes up two floors of a commercial building, with panoramic views of the eastern side of the city. Tables are placed far enough apart that one is aware of one's neighbors without feeling like part of the conversation, so the atmosphere is pretty tranquil.
The daily set menu is custom tailored for each table, after discussions on specific preferences. I requested a couple of their signature dishes while adding something additional on top for extra cost. Hell, it's our first time so I wanted to make sure we get as full of an experience as we reasonably could. Except, of course, the charcoal-grilled whelk that's priced at more than CNY 3,000 each...
There were two small plates of snacks on our table:
X.O sauce (XO酱) - with
conpoy (干貝) and sardine fry. Kinda one-note.
String beans with preserved olive greens (榄菜豆角) - pretty tasty.
Overture: stomach-warming water caltrop soup (序曲：菱角暖胃汤) - it
does warm up the stomach and prepare it for the coming onslaught. Love that they use a seasonal ingredient like water caltrop (菱角).
Then came the two starters:
Short-necked clams with pickled mustard stem (咸菜拌西施舌) - this was pretty nice and fresh, and the salty flavors from the pickle highlighted the sweetness of the clams.
Smoked slow-marinated goose foie gras (低温慢卤烟熏肥鹅肝) - the fatty liver from lion head goose (獅頭鵝) is smoked with sugarcane bagasse (甘蔗渣) and
dancong (單叢) tea, and the smokiness was very obvious but not unpleasant or overwhelming. The umami from the masterstock marinade (滷水) in the liver was pretty nice.
Gongfu tea (工夫茶) - brewed from
dancong tea. This was very elegant.
The three main courses followed, starting with the extra whelk dish I added:
Blanched whelk with basil (金不换氽响螺) - the whelk had been prepared before and served lukewarm by pouring in a warm sauce. The whelk flavors and texture were nice, as this was cooked more gently compared to the charcoal grilling and flaming treatment last night's whelk received.
Unfortunately the dish came out with cling wrap on top, and the oil in the sauce congealed on top... That was disappointing, considering I paid CNY 400 extra for this dish.
Crispy sea cucumber with catathelasma mushroom (老人头菌焗婆参) - this came with abalone sauce, a dab of peanut butter with crunchy peanuts, and
catathelasma laorentou (老人頭菌) from Tibet.
I don't get to have this style of sea cucumbers often, and in fact, my first experience was tasting the Chaoshan cuisine of
Howard's Gourmet (好酒好蔡). The crispy exterior comes from having hot oil poured on top of the sea cucumber.
The sea cucumber from Australia was very nice, indeed. Really happy to have tasted this. Not sure I would pair it with peanut butter...
We were shown the big piece of fish maw for our next dish, coming from a male blackspotted croaker (赤嘴鳘公).
The fish maw is blanched tableside in a thickened stock made with free-range chicken. They added a piece of chicken for good measure.
Blanched fish maw of male blackspotted croaker (堂灼赤嘴公肚) - that chicken stock was VERY rich, with VERY big flavors. Of course, there was also plenty of collagen. And did I see a thin piece of bamboo shoot skin?
Yup. This piece of fish maw was very thick. And very nice.
Five seasonal specials followed:
Steamed wild yellow croaker in chicken stock (鸡汁蒸野生小黄鱼) - it's so nice to be in China so we have access to wild yellow croaker.
This just looked soooo beautiful.
This was steamed soooo perfectly, and one can see by the color on the inside. The fish was soooo tender, and it was salted just right to bring out the natural umami (鮮味) of the fish. This was, hands down, the best fish I've tasted in recent memory. And bound to be one of the best dishes I've had this year.
Steamed Senhouse's mussels with taro (薄壳煮芋艿) - for the second time today, we got to have these tiny little Senhouse's mussels (薄殼) that are so treasured in these parts.
To be honest, this was a ridiculously large hunk of taro. For a menu of this size, it would take up too much stomach space. Don't get me wrong, even as someone who's not enamored with taro I thought this tasted great. The portion was just wrong.
As I described these a few years ago, they are tiny sprinkles of rainbow. We love these so much that we took the time to eat them one by one. And that takes a lot of effort!
Abalone with Longjiang pork trotter (鲍鱼隆江猪脚) - I don't think I've ever had this combination before...
I was actually a little disappointed that we only got two very thin slices of braised trotter.
Much to my surprise, we were instructed to wrap the slice of trotter around the abalone and eat them together. Interesting combo.
Crispy pig intestine with eel (龙穿虎肚) - a signature dish I asked for. The intestine was stuffed with a mix of eel, pork, ham, and shiitake.
Unfortunately the eel was just way, waaaaay too muddy. I could barely taste the thin layer of crispy intestine on the outside.
We were told to take the first bite "as is" so we could taste the true flavors, but that was definitely a mistake. We really needed to coat it well in plenty of the
kumquat oil (金桔油) so the citrus flavors could mask the mud.
Stir-fried kailan with dried flounder (鲽脯炒芥兰) - the kailan (芥蘭) was soooo amazingly fresh and beautiful! Sweet and crunchy, and tender at the same time. The dried flounder chips (方魚) provided a nice touch of complexity.
Finally, we had the staple course (主食):
Congee cooked in mineral water with condiments (矿泉水煮粥配杂咸) - I don't think I've ever had a more memorable bowl of congee in my life. They've obviously done a shit ton of research in order to get this right. The rice comes from the northeast part of China, and we were told it wasn't Wuchang rice (五常米). It was cooked in mineral water with an alkaline pH, and even though it had been cooked for some time, the rice grains actually held their shapes while turning mushy and stinky. The flavors were also pretty distinctive and sweet, and there's a wonderful fragrance that reminds me of sweetened milk.
Rather than using the 3 condiments paired with the congee, I took the opportunity to finish the two snacks that came at the start of the meal.
Fermented bean curd (豆腐乳) - the first of our three condiments. Traditional but too heavy for my liking.
Fried omelet with preserved radish (菜脯蛋) and
salted cutlass fish (咸带鱼) - the omelet is very familiar to me, but I found the salted fish too heavy.
Dessert: pumpkin with taro mash (甜點：贝贝南瓜芋泥) - the classic taro mash was served with some Bochan kabocha (坊ちゃんカボチャ).
The
pear was lightly soaked and flavored with plum powder, giving it a slight savory profile.
We wanted to drink something with this nice meal, so I picked out a bottle that would be to Foursheets' liking.
2019 La Clarté de Haut-Brion - initially this was kinda ripe, but after cooling in an ice bucket for more than 30 minutes this tasted leaner on the palate. On the nose we've got a bit more pipi de chat, with fragrant nose of lemon citrus and a bit of oak and vanilla.
The food was - with a couple of exceptions - absolutely stunning tonight. The execution was at a high level, the ingredients were superb, and we felt that the ingredients were respected and allowed to shine.
The service, however, was disappointing. I keep joking that "all crows are black" when it comes to service at Chinese restaurants, and with very few exceptions, the kitchen knocks out dishes at a rate far faster than I would care to appreciate. But this is likely a cultural thing... where diners in Mainland China just want to eat their food quickly and be on their way. The food might be exquisite, but both the clientele and the service staff lack the sophistication to turn a meal into a true fine dining experience.
Nevertheless, this has to rank as one of my best meals this year, and certainly eye-opening.
We were too stuffed from dinner and needed to do some talking, so we went back and walked around Old Town again. The buildings definitely take on a different feel when they are lit up at night.
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